<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>downpour by orphan_account</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603363">downpour</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), M/M, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, and iroh is a great wing-uncle, katara is a great wingwoman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:42:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,728</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25603363</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let’s go shopping,” Katara said. “It’ll be fun,” Katara said. </p><p>No. It was not fun when you were caught in a torrential downpour, and you have to seek refuge in a tea shop.</p><p>But this tea shop has a cute boy for an employee, and Sokka wants to go on a date with him. That is if he can muster up the courage to actually ask him after he and his sister order their tea.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>290</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>downpour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Some crumbs for Zukka Nation. I love these two dorks too much for my own good and I wrote this in like 30 minutes, so I apologize if it’s poorly written. This is my first one-shot pretty much ever, so be nice to me lol. Enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Shit! Come on Sokka, keep up!”</p><p>The two siblings ran down the street, not expecting the downpour that was occurring now. They still had a block or two to go towards the parking garage but to no avail. It was raining too hard, and neither of them brought an umbrella. </p><p>“We’ll just have to find somewhere to crash for the time being. See anywhere nearby, Tara?” The older man said, trying to hold his blue hoodie over his and his sister’s heads. </p><p>“There!” The younger woman shouted and pointed at a small shop across the street. “The Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop. We can get a cup of tea and warm up!”</p><p>“Sounds like a plan to me!” Sokka said, and the two checked for traffic before running across the street. Once they were safely inside, they wiped their feet on the green welcome mat, and caught their breaths to the side, out of the way of the door.</p><p>“You know, Sokka, I don’t think we’ve ever been here before,” Katara spoke, and Sokka nodded. The inside was nicely decorated, with a very green, almost jade-colored vibe. The tables and chairs were wooden, and the place smelled like tea, unsurprisingly. </p><p>Katara smiled and walked up to the counter, nudging Sokka. He fell in line behind her and looked at the menu board. He decided on the Assam black tea, which read on the menu as having more caffeine than the usual cup of tea (which he desperately needed), while Katara chose chamomile tea with a dash of honey in it.</p><p>“Hi, welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, what can I get for you?” A man spoke from behind the counter, and Sokka noticed him immediately. He had black hair like the night sky, pulled back into a bun with pieces falling out of the front. His skin was quite pale in contrast to the more deep color of his and his sister’s skin, and his eyes were the most beautiful shade of yellow imaginable. Or maybe they were gold? Amber? And there was a red and pink scar stretching to his ear over his left eye. Sokka decided that made him even more pretty. </p><p>“Sokka? Aren’t you going to order?” Katara snapped him out of his daze and he shook his head softly and blinked a few times before staring back at the man behind the counter. Zuko, his name tag read. A pretty name for a pretty guy.</p><p>“Yeah, um, I’ll take the... uh... the black tea.” Sokka stammered. Sokka was beside himself. He had never once done that before, and especially not in front of a guy. Or a girl, for that matter. What was going on? </p><p>“Alright, is that all?” Zuko asked, and Katara ordered them both a muffin, chocolate chip for Sokka, and a lemon poppyseed for Katara. Sokka handed her the card, and she gave it to Zuko. Sokka was staring at Zuko the entire time, and unbeknownst to him, Katara caught on. </p><p>“Can I get a name for the order?” Zuko asked, his golden eyes, Sokka decided, staring into his bright blue ones. </p><p>"Sokka." He responded almost immediately.</p><p>They took their muffins and grabbed a seat by the window, Sokka taking the seat that faced the counter. </p><p>“Alright, you little-“ Katara started, but Sokka cut her off.</p><p>“Look, he’s cute! You can admit that.” Sokka raised his eyebrow and smirked. Katara, however, facepalmed. </p><p>“Sokka, I have a boyfriend.” She rolled her eyes. </p><p>“Aang doesn’t need to know you said anything.”</p><p>“Fine. Yes, he is cute. And yes, you should ask him for his number! We can think of a plan.” Katara softly punched Sokka in the shoulder, and he felt his cheeks go pink. They waited for their tea, brainstorming how to get Sokka to ask the cute boy for his number. </p><p>-</p><p>“Zuko, are you almost done with that order?” Zuko’s uncle asked politely, getting ready to start making a new batch of blueberry muffins. </p><p>“Uncle Iroh, what do I do if there’s someone that I want to ask out?”</p><p>“Nephew, this is an unexpected question,” Iroh chuckled, setting down the bowl he had in his hands. “Was it the boy in the blue hoodie that came in earlier?”</p><p>Zuko nearly dropped the cup of black tea for said boy and cleared his throat. </p><p>“Yeah- wait, how did you know?” Zuko questioned, furrowing his eyebrow. </p><p>“I noticed him staring at you earlier. And no, before you say it, it wasn’t just because of your scar, because the girl that was with him looked at you normally.” Iroh shrugged and put a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “You should go for it.”</p><p>“How?”</p><p>“Just say what comes to heart!” His uncle smiled, and Zuko smiled, his face lighting up and his brain registering a good idea. He grabbed a pen and a napkin, wrote something down, grabbed the tea for the two customers, and carried it to the table. </p><p>-</p><p>Sokka noticed Zuko coming towards them, and he nudged Katara. She nodded, then headed towards the restroom, part of the mini-plan they had schemed up in five minutes. Zuko set the two cups of tea down and started talking. Sokka started talking too, coincidentally. </p><p>“So I was thinking-“</p><p>“Hey, can I have your-“</p><p>The two guys laughed, and Sokka gestured his hand towards Zuko. “You first.”</p><p>“So, um, I was wondering... maybe... you’d want to go on a... date?” He said slowly, testing the waters. Sokka smiled and nodded his head. </p><p>“I was going to ask you for your number so I could ask you out.” Sokka laughed. Zuko then decided that was one of the things he liked about Sokka, along with his face, eyes, hair, skin, and literally everything else. </p><p>“Oh! That reminds me. Check the bottom of your napkin.” Zuko blushed, turning his head away slightly. Sokka flipped it over and gasped. </p><p>“You wrote your number on the napkin. How cliché,” Sokka grinned. “Do you by chance like movies?”</p><p>“I, uh... yeah, I do.”</p><p>“Want to catch that cheesy romance movie that came out last week?” Sokka asked.</p><p>“Sure. I get off work at 6 on Friday. How does then sound?”</p><p>“It sounds great.” Sokka noticed Zuko staring out the window, and he turned to see that the rain had stopped. </p><p>“See you then, I guess.” Zuko smiled, pointed to the napkin, then went back to work. Katara came out of the bathroom to see Zuko walking behind the counter and Sokka staring dreamily at him. </p><p>“Rain’s cleared up. Ready to go, lover boy?” Katara teased.</p><p>“Shut it, Katara!” Sokka punched her in the arm, and Katara laughed. The two of them walked out, Sokka gripping the napkin tightly, excited for his and Zuko’s date.</p><p>-</p><p>“Hey, Zuko!” Sokka shouted from across the street, holding an umbrella in his hand. Zuko waved, and he crossed the street to meet him. They made the walk down to the movie theater, which wasn't far from the tea shop, and they talked like they had over text for the past week. Zuko really got to know Sokka in that week, and vice-versa. They found out that they both went to the university nearby, and that made Sokka happy, knowing that him and Zuko could hang out on a more frequent basis.</p><p>“Ready to go in?” Sokka asked, and Zuko nodded. They bought their tickets, which Sokka insisted on paying for, and they bought their popcorn and drinks, which Zuko insisted on paying for. </p><p>“Considering you bought the tickets, I’ll pay for snacks.” He said with a smile.</p><p>They got to the theater and chose the seats close to the middle of the theater, and the movie started. </p><p>Roughly halfway through the movie, near the main conflict of the movie, Sokka felt something touch the side of his hand. He glanced over and saw Zuko’s hand resting next to his own. Sokka blushed, then decided to make the next move and put his hand on top of Zuko’s. He jumped, then after smiling, laced their fingers together.</p><p>They were holding hands, and both of their faces were bright red. </p><p>Once the movie was over, Sokka and Zuko both came out red-eyed and puffy-faced, and still holding hands. </p><p>“I just can’t believe-“ Zuko sniffled. “that she went back to him!”</p><p>“I thought it was sweet,” Sokka said, wiping his eye with his free hand. He wondered why his other hand wasn’t free, then he looked down and remembered. “Oh, we’re still holding hands.”</p><p>“If it’s okay with you, I wouldn’t like to stop,” Zuko spoke softly, and Sokka nodded. </p><p>“Me either. Good call.” Sokka agreed. He looked up and felt a droplet hit his forehead.</p><p>“Hey, I think it’s about to rain. Still want me to walk you home?” Sokka asked, tilting his head slightly.</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>-</p><p>They started walking, and it started to rain harder, so Sokka put up the umbrella he had brought. They stopped outside the Jasmine Dragon (Zuko and his uncle's apartment was upstairs), and Zuko looked over to Sokka.</p><p>“Tonight was...fun. I haven’t been on a date in a while,” he started. “But I... want to go on more with you. You’re a very nice and funny person. Not to mention pretty. So, um, I hope this doesn’t come out of the blue, but... can I kiss you?”</p><p>Sokka was more shocked by the fact that Zuko thought tonight was fun but completely fine with the fact that Zuko wanted to kiss him. Sometimes his brain worked in weird ways.</p><p>So when Sokka leaned in, Zuko followed suit, and their lips met. Sokka unlaced their fingers so he could place his hand on his cheek, and Zuko pulled him closer by wrapping his arms around his neck. Sokka went to grab at his waist, and successfully did so, but dropped the umbrella in the process, the two of them now getting pelted by the pouring rain. They both jumped back in shock, then laughed. Sokka picked up the umbrella and tried to shake the excess water off the best he could, placing it above the two men again. </p><p>“Man, I guess downpour is just our weather,” Sokka stated with a smile.</p><p>“Do you want to stay for a little while? You’re soaking wet.” Zuko offered.</p><p>“You know what? That's not such a bad idea.” Sokka accepted, grabbing Zuko's hand and not planning on letting go.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>